Not to get too picky on the "dozens" comment, and at the risk of sounding overly pessimistic, I count 21 in 35mm 36 exp from B&H, 12 in 120, and 3 each in 4x5 and 8x10. LF is clearly in danger with only Kodak carrying the torch.
Note that these are distinct emulsions and not multipacks.
That is of course for negative film. The slide landscape (pun intended) is a bit bleaker with 5 in 35mm 36 exp, 5 in 120, and 2 each in 4x5 and 8x10. Here too a single vendor, Fuji, is holding out in LF. The bright spot here is Ferrania. Here's to hoping they can pull it off.
How many emulsions were available in the hayday? Options in 35mm are pretty good, not so much with 120. I'd like to see more options in 120 and hope we don't lose LF altogether.
By comparison, there are about 25 emulsions available in 120 for B&W. That's about a 5 to 1 ratio for slide and 2 to 1 for negative.
I mostly shoot color on vacation but have recently been shooting more and intend to start home processing of color film. If I'm going to start stockpiling anything, it will be color film as B&W seems solid with at least one company fully committed. Perhaps Ferrania will become the Ilford of color film...
Happy shooting,
Rob
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